Govt relaxes driving licence rules

The government has decided to allow drivers with licences for running light vehicles to run medium vehicles and drivers with licences for running medium vehicles to run heavy vehicles, with minimum one-year experience in both cases. 
Road transport and bridges ministry also said that the public transport drivers with legal professional light driving licences and minimum one-year experience would be allowed to apply for medium driving licences and the public transport drivers with medium driving licences and minimum one-year experience would be eligible for getting heavy driving licences.
A circular, published on Monday at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s website, said the directives would be in effect till December 31 this year.
The decisions were made when the demand for safe road was one of the most-talked issues in the country as deaths in road accidents remained unstoppable. 
Most recently, student protests against anarchy in the road transport sector rocked the country. 
Thousands of students took the streets after two Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College students were killed by a reckless bus in the capital on July 29. 
In the face of protests, the road ministry officials said they would take strict measures to ensure strict monitoring to check fatal road accidents and ensure road safety. 
Terming the directives unprofessional, illogical and suicidal, road safety experts have expressed their fear that it would only increase the number of road accidents and fatalities. 
At present, as per the existing laws, drivers with light licences and minimum three-year experience are eligible for medium driving licences and drivers with medium licences and minimum three-year experience can apply for heavy driving licences.
Drivers with light licences can drive cars and small vehicles while with medium licences they can drive microbuses and medium vehicles and with heavy licences they can drive public transports like buses, minibuses and trucks.
The circular said that as currently there was a lack of drivers with heavy and medium licences against the number of heavy and medium vehicles, the government issued the directives for public interest. 
Other existing rules regarding application for medium and heavy driving licences would be in force as usual, it said. 
The directives were issued on August 16 following the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1984’s rule 8 (2). 
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s Accident Research Institute’s former director Professor Moazzem Hossain told New Age that the government should not allow these without proper training as these directives would have long term effects. 
‘At present the demand for safe road is coming from all quarters and one of the main elements of safe road is safe drivers,’ he said, adding, ‘but the government is being more lenient to the drivers. So how we can get safe road?’
‘The number of road accidents will definitely increase following these directives,’ he said, terming the decision fully unprofessional, illogical and suicidal. 
ARI’s assistant professor Kazi Md Shifun Newaz said that in reality many public transport drivers were working with light or medium licences instead of heavy licences. 
‘We urge the authorities to ensure that none but public transport drivers can apply for heavy driving licences and ensure their proper training,’ he added. 
At present the number of registered motor vehicles in the country is about 35 lakh while the number of total driving licences is 19 lakh till August this year. 
The number of light driving licences is 14.59 lakh, medium driving licences is 60,238 and heavy driving licences is 1.38 lakh till July these year.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net